HomeFundingBarcelona-based Deep Detection raises €1 million to launch PhotonAI technology into the...

Barcelona-based Deep Detection raises €1 million to launch PhotonAI technology into the defect detection market

Deep Detection, founded in 2020, is on a mission to protect consumer safety by enhancing the capabilities of inspection machine systems, and have just closed a €1 million funding round to launch its Photon AI technology to do so. 

The young company, founded by Colin Burnham who previously worked with PepsiCo, has secured investment from specialist photonics VC, Vigo Ventures, Clave Capital, ESOM, and public financing for its next-generation X-ray camera. 

Deep Detection’s Photon Ai is the company’s first product launch. A multi-spectral X-ray camera, Photon Ai fits into X-ray machines to inspect a product and ensure it is safe, contains no foreign materials and meets production standards. 

Initially, the company will focus on introducing their technology to the food and beverage industry, where low-industry materials that commonly concur in packaging, transport or harvesting can enter manufacturing and disrupt production. These materials are not detectable today, and so Deep Detection are offering a great new innovation for the industry. They will also develop value-added solutions for food and beverage using this new technology platform. 

COO of Deep Detection, and ex-Senior Director at PepsiCo, Colin Burnham said: “In a globalised supply chain, we depend on each other for the quality and safety of the end product. Errors upset consumers, harm the trust in brands and disrupt business operations. In the European food sector, there are around 100 product recalls per year due to a serious risk caused by foreign bodies. The direct costs alone can run into tens of millions and be catastrophic for SMEs. Incident prevention is the key and our technology is designed to avoid these incidents.”

The funding that’s just been announced will be used to accelerate the industrialisation of the technology in key market sectors as the young company enters into the €4.4 billion defect detection market. The first commercial sales are anticipated in 2022, after completing a series of industrial PoCs with international corporations to validate the technology in each market sector.

While they are beginning with the food and beverage market, the technology is relevant for other industries. Beyond highly sensitive detection, the Photon Ai technology segments the X-ray spectra into discrete energy bands, which are used to non-destructively characterise product attributes and identify their composition.

The IFAE technology spin-out is a member of The Collider, the tech accelerator of Mobile World Capital Barcelona.

Patricia Allen
Patricia Allen
is the former Head of Content at EU-Startups. With a background in politics, Patricia has a real passion for how shared ideas across communities and cultures can bring new initiatives and innovations for the future.
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